Forbidden Enchantment
by CowgirlTori88
Summary: When the main characters Ember and Willow find a treasure map it leads them to trouble, an old shack, and an adventure they never expected!


_Forbidden Enchantment_

It had been a long time since Ember had seen her room in their summer house. It was as though she had never left. She touched the things that lay neatly in their place. The bed felt soft, it was made with silk sheets and a quilted comforter. The skillfully carved wardrobe Ember's father made sat against the wall on the far side from where Ember stood. She pulled her trunk with her belongings and placed it in the wardrobe. Then she walked over to the window seat. She gently touched the small pillow with the crooked stitching and terrible embroidery that she had made as a young girl. She sat down and, looked at the Blue Mountains crowned with a soft white mist, the blooming apple trees, and the growing grass. She could hear the birds chirping, and the creek laughing as its trickling, and water got passed from rock to rock. It was relaxing, and peaceful. She sat there looking out the window for some time, when she heard someone running up the path to their house. She looked, and as soon as she saw the brunette head and spring in the young lady's step, her eyes lit up. She jumped up from where she was sitting and descended down two flights of stairs.

"Willow" she cried as she rounded the corner and, saw her friend. Willow was conversing with Ella, Ember's mother, Willow whirled around.

"Ember" she cried as she ran to Ember. They embraced each other. Willow held Ember out at arm's length.

"My how long it has been since we have seen each other" she said in half tremulous tones.

"Yes, it has been quite a long time" Ember replied.

"Mama may Willow and I go up to my bedroom" asked Ember.

Ella nodded with an understanding smile. The two girls rushed up the two flights of stairs up to Ember's room. Ember quickly pulled Willow over to the bed and sat her down. They had a conversation that lasted long into the night.

"We shall continue in the morning for it is much too late and you're probably worn out by your long trip" Willow said after a long time of talking. Ember agreed and bade Willow farewell.

The next morning Ember woke to the smell of pancakes, hot maple syrup, and warm butter. After putting on a blue cotton dress, Ember went down stairs.

"Smells good mama" Ember said sniffing the air.

"Willow wanted me to tell you to meet her at the apple orchard as soon as you could" Ella said.

"Oh thank you mama" Ember said as she grabbed the pancakes off her plate and headed out the door.

"Don't forget you need to be back soon to clean out the basement" Embers mother hurriedly said before Ember shut the door. After meeting Willow at the apple orchard, Ember and Willow went down to a nearby creek and waded for a few hours.

"We got to be heading back mama said I have to get the basement cleaned out" she said as she pulled on her long stockings and put on her blue cotton dress over her head. "Want to help" she said looking over at Willow who was lacing up her black boots.

"Sure" she said hoping up from the ground. They raced back home through the orchard to the front door. They walked inside to a fresh aroma of pine, and fragrance.

"Mama we going to clean the basement", Ember said as her and Willow descended down the stairs into the basement. They started immediately by pulling the covers off the furniture and shaking the dust outside. They swept, and reset the mice traps. Ember was dusting off the books laying in dust on the bookshelves. While dusting she came upon a book that caught her eye. It was titled "Forbidden Enchantment". She blew the cover and opened to the first page. There were riddles, pictures of things she had never seen before, and lovely maps drawn. She turned to a page with a map after studying it she realized it was Arvendell, the place in which she lived. She looked at the riddle underneath. It read: "To get to where the treasure lies you must first go under the forgotten place and find he made out of stone, he that hold the scroll".

"What treasure?! A forgotten place, a figure made of stone" Ember thought to herself as she tried to find something else that could tell her where she could find this so called treasure.

"Willow come look at this book" Ember said as she read aloud the riddle under the picture. They looked at each other excitement filled their eyes.

"Do you really think there could be treasure", Willow said looking at Ember. Ember nodded.

"We just need to find a forgotten place", Ember said looking at a big map of their town. "The old shack!" Ember said pointing.

"Of course" Willow said. "Nobody has lived there for years".

"But when should we go" Ember asked? Willow shrugged. "I know lets go the morning the moon is full" Ember said pointing to the date on the calendar. Two days from tomorrow. The girls agreed

Those two days seemed to drag on as Ember prepared, and re-prepared her knapsack. Finally the day of their adventure was to begin. The girls met at the apple orchard.

"Are you ready", Ember asked.

"Yes" Willow said. They started the long journey to the old shack. They followed an old wagon trail through the tall grass. When they arrived at the shack the girls were quite fatigued.

"Finally" Willow said running up the pathway to the shack. She flew the door open and set her bag down on the chair. "Now we must go under" Willow said looking thoughtful.

"The basement" both girls said in harmony.

...

Ember was hesitant. She looked down the dark staircase.

"Do we have to" Ember said looking back at Willow.

"Yes" willow replied giving Ember a shove.

Ember carefully stepped down onto the first step. It creaked beneath her. She continued down until she reached the very last step. She looked around at the items covered in dust, and cobwebs.

"Ok, let's hurry and find that map and then get out of this nasty room." She ran around dusting off item after item looking for the stone-like figure described in the riddle.

"He that holds the scroll…" Ember thought to herself. All the dust floating through the air made Willow sneeze.

"Shhhhhh" Ember said putting her finger to her lip.

Ember listened she could hear someone descending the stairs.

"Hurry hide" Ember said frantically looking for a hiding place.

She ran over to a huge item covered in a tarp. Both girls slide under the tarp, and tried to be quiet. She felt as though she was holding her breath the steps became louder. She looked through a tear in the tarp out onto the cold stone floor. The man's boots were about five feet from where Ember was hiding. He came closer till his feet were almost touching the end of the tarp. She closed her eyes. Flashes came streaming through her head of what could happen if the man lifted the tarp. She felt light headed. Fingers grabbed the bottom of the tarp. The man lifted the tarp with one mighty gesture upwards.

"Ahhhhh" the girls screamed.

"shhhh, it's just me you goof balls" the man said smiling.

"Joe" Ember said with a sigh of relief "am I ever so glad to see you" she said standing up. "You gave us quite a start. Both girls started explaining everything to Joe.

"how did you know where to find us anyway" Ember said.

"your mother told me" Joe said smiling.

"Now we can get back to finding that stone guy" Willow said dusting off her dress.

"I already know what it is" Ember said walking over to a corner.

"You do?" Willow and Joe asked.

"Yes I discovered it when I looked through the tear in the tarp and saw the stone floor", Ember said lifting a block from the floor. Ember showed them an artifact which she had lifted from out of the hole. The leather was wrapped tightly with string around an item.

"may I borrow your pocket knife" ember asked. Joe quickly retrieved his pocket knife out of his front right pocket. Ember cut the string. She un-wrapped the leather. She stared in amazement at a necklace made of gold and silver. Joe and Willow crawled closer to Ember, then also sat there staring.

"This has got to be worth a fortune" Joe said still staring.

"I wonder who's it was" Ember said holding it up.

"We should leave it, someone could be looking for it" Willow said.

"I guess, but think of the money we could get for it" Joe said.

"No it isn't right, it was fun while it lasted, but we shouldn't take something that isn't ours" Ember said sliding the stone back in place.

"what on earth are you doing on my property" said a man with a rough harsh voice from behind where they were sitting. Ember was going to explain when she felt a hard hit to her head. She felt light-headed, and the room went dark. She remembered no more.

If you would like me to continue this series please give me a review! I will write a new chapter when I have received 10 reviews on this chapter! Hope you enjoyed! (if people really like it I will do a chapter a week!)


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